Son 'sickened' by police bid to end death probe

THE son of a great-grandmother who was found dead in a Mexican swamp has said he is "sickened" by plans to close the police investigation into her death.

Julia Howard, 77, vanished from the Moon Palace Golf & Spa Resort in Cancun in June 2009, with her remains found more than five weeks later in a swamp three miles from the luxury resort. An investigation was launched and Mexican police confirmed Mrs Howard's death was being dealt with as a possible homicide.

However, Mrs Howard's son, Henry Harvey, 57, and daughter Julia Brock, have now been informed by the Foreign Office that the Mexican police are seeking the family's permission to close the case, which they now claim did not involve any criminal activity.

The family have until tomorrow to respond.

Mr Harvey, who lives in Balerno and is convinced his mother was murdered in Cancun, said: "I'm sickened but this comes as no great surprise.

"Even if the Mexican police don't close the case, it will just lie in a file somewhere. They're not investigating it.

"The case has been open for a year-and-a-half but I don't think they have been investigating. They just want to sweep it under the carpet."

Mrs Brock, 56, who lives in Firrhill, also criticised the timing of the e-mail from the Foreign Office, which was sent just 12 days before Christmas.

She said: "Their choice of timing was really bad. As far as I'm concerned, if it's a murder investigation then the police shouldn't close it. Something might come to light later."

The family plans to reply to the e-mail, with their response - which will state their refusal to close the case - translated into Spanish for them by a family member. They received a report about the investigation from the Mexican police in November 2009. It revealed that they were treating the case as possible homicide, which contradicts the police's most recent claim that no crime was committed.

Mr Harvey added: "We refuse to accept that no crime was committed, it's just nonsense.

"In the police report we received, it said they were treating it as a homicide, but the police are now trying to say that no criminal act was committed. I find that incredible."

The family have heard very little from the Mexican authorities about the investigation over the last 18 months and Mr Harvey, a sales executive, believes his mother's death was never properly investigated.

"Not knowing what happened to my mother is a nightmare scenario, it's horrible," he said. "I lost my job through all this during the first year because I couldn't concentrate. The whole thing has been a nightmare for us."

Mrs Howard, who lived in Roseburn, vanished from the Moon Palace just 12 hours after arriving with daughter Julia, son Henry and his wife, Glynnis, on a two-week holiday.

The widow had told her family that she was going to fetch her sun hat and then go for a walk. But the great- grandmother-of-seven never completed the 35-yard walk to her room and, according to security staff at the Moon Palace, there was no record of her having left the hotel.

A spokesman for the Foreign Office said: "We are in contact with both Mrs Howard's family and the Mexican authorities. We will continue to provide consular assistance to the family."